Monday, 10 August 2015

I am
so far behind in my blogging I am afraid I am posting about something that
happened a few months ago! Is it really August? This year has disappeared… I
know we all say that but it’s true… there is a lot going on at the moment and I
hate to admit that I have put blogging down the priority list a bit, as much as
I like doing it, but I hope to be getting back to once a week posts very soon.

They
have set up a project called ‘Creative Conversations’ that brings together a
range of people to discuss and exchange ideas on how the creative arts and
business and commerce in creative organisations can interact and develop.

I was
lucky enough to be informed of this event as it was discussing the future of
publishing and more specifically the current and future relation between
mainstream publishers and independent publishers (where I learnt a great new
word – authorpreneur!) and the growth of new forms of digital storytelling,
distribution, customer led content development, reader/author interaction and
of course the way writers in the future can make money.

I
have attended lots of events like this in the past, but not in the publishing
field. I worked in an art and design university for ten years and being part of
that type of organization you have the opportunity to meet lots of interesting
people and visit and attend a huge variety of creative events, both with an
educational, academic aim but also for pure enjoyment. However, this was the
first time I have attended an event where I had both a personal interest and a
business interest too. Although I am an amateur writer and publisher at the
very early stages of development, it is what I want to do for a long time to
come and so I went to this event with a very different mindset. In fact, I felt
like a nervous student attending his first class…

For
one, I took a notebook! That means serious business! This wasn’t just a chance
to wander around a gallery and chat with people over a glass or two of wine whilst
grabbing handfuls of twiglets and crisps. I really wanted to learn and discover
first hand what the industry was up to. Now, before that sounds lazy of me, as
if indicating I don’t do that already, meeting people face to face, hearing
their stories and listening to questions and answers from the crowd is a much
different thing to reading lots of newsletters, emails and articles on the
laptop. Yes, of course I keep up to date with industry news online. I try and
read and keep an eye on dozens and dozens of industry websites, social media
sites and all the rest of it, but there is something special about seeing
people in the flesh and also, something quite nerve-wracking.

I
have to admit to being more than a little worried about attending. After years
of being very comfortable at public events and public speaking I found myself
doubting my right to attend and thinking about what I would say about me and my
company should I have to introduce myself. It’s a strange thing. I realised I
was representing one category of their target audience, and yes, they wanted
small independent writers and publishers there but what right had I to put
myself in that category? Having an online presence is one thing but putting
yourself in front of people is quite another. It all became so real! Had I
really self published my work? Had I really published other peoples’ work? Had
I really set a company up? I felt very, very small...

Anyway,
nerves aside once I arrived and took my seat the evening went well. The speakers
and topics were very interesting and it was a good experience. I shouldn’t have
been worried really but I guess that just shows you that when something means a
lot to you, it doesn’t matter what the situation is, you are going to feel the
nerves.

The
panel took turns to introduce themselves and then the debate started and before
you know it, everyone is eagerly involved.

The
panel should you wish to look them up:

Steve
Carsey:Director of Original
Programming for Audible.

Katrina
Hopewell:Marketing Consultant.

Kate
Pullinger:Novelist and
Academic.

Jeremy
Thompson: Managing Director of
Troubadour.

Justine
Solomons: Byte the Book (Chair).

It
was great to listen to them talk about their backgrounds and what they do now
within the literary world and they were some great questions from the audience.
It was also great to hear directly from the audience and find out what people are up
to. There were all sorts of interesting projects (a lot of the night was
dedicated to discussing new methods of storytelling – where the traditional
view of what a book is could go with such amazing advancements in digital
technology) and although not wanting to sound negative, it was also comforting
to hear that other people suffer from the same doubts, pressures, problems and issues!

As
much as we think that self publishing is a relatively new phenomenon, really we
know that it has been happening for hundreds of years and what we actually mean
is the new modern phenomenon in the rise of electronic self publishing and the
reduced costs of printing services. That is where the boom has come from and it
was interesting to hear Jeremy explain the huge increase in numbers they have
seen since the late 90s when they first started their self publishing arm,
Matador. I recognized the issues that authors go through and it was nice to
hear that large companies have to deal with the same problems small companies
do, there is no secret way to quality. Editing, production, design, marketing,
and so on are all important stages of developing a book and regardless of the
scale are essential to a successful, revenue generating product. What of course
is different, is that with scale comes investment and budgets. After a decade
in the business you have made good contacts with printing companies, distribution
companies, shops and delivery services. And that is where scale does make a
difference with costs. It was an interesting section for me because how do you
translate working with thousands of potential books a year from working with
maybe a dozen?

I
took a lot of notes that will go a long way to building up my business plan and
I don’t want to bore you here with all my little jottings but I’ll highlight
just a few of the subjects that came up that I benefitted from hearing of other
people’s experiences. This is collectively what I took from all speakers and
I’m funneling it into one overall impression, from me as a ‘wannabe’ publisher
and writer.

Methods
on attracting new writers and how to promote current writers.

Submission
policies.

Formal,
legal contracts with larger firms.

Payments,
margins and royalties.

Investments
and negotiations in advertising and building social media profiles.

Marketing
campaigns and strategies.

Targeting
an audience, deciding what that (your) audience is, trying to focus on a
market.

Now
these aren’t new to me, and if you are involved in self publishing they won't be to you either, but again, their value and importance takes on a new level when
you hear directly from the people who are commissioning new works and
publishing new works, it doesn't seem theoretical anymore... from people who are responsible for large sums of money
and large scale projects... from those who have been there and done it over a number of years and have proved their success. It is actually quite forceful when presented as hard evidence from people who know their stuff.

And
some of the most interesting and inspiring revelations included:

New
technologies for hybrid digital and media storytelling.

New
mixed media – combining music, animation and graphics with prose.

Advancement
of digital e-readers and tablets, what performance they offer.

When
you go to events like these it can sometimes be information overload. Those last points are a bit like listening to a TED talk or similar, it can be very inspiring and wonderful to hear about the latest developments out there and some of the amazing projects being undertaken, but you have
to identify what is useful to you and be reasonable about what you can feasible
implement. The future may seem brilliant but don't forget that you need to do the basics here and now in the present. That is not to say to ignore the rest. It all went down in my
notebook but whether or not I will ever get to the position where I can invest
in, and expand, my business, I don’t know; but there are extremely interesting
avenues to explore should I be able to and hopefully I can share those with you in future blogs.

The
other thing about going to these sort of events is that you can be intimidated
(not in an aggressive way! In a self doubting kind of way) by the fierce
competiton. That isn’t news in publishing and writing, nor it seems in any
profession these days, but when you see so many talented, intelligent and
creative people in the flesh it really can be scary. How the hell are you meant
to compete with such amazing minds?

The
trick is, for me anyway, to always remain focused on what it is you want to do
and what you want to achieve. There is no point comparing yourself to others as
it’s just a way of making yourself feel useless! Learn from them, yes, use
their skills, experiences and knowledge, yes, use them as markers for
progression, yes… but don’t judge yourself against them. You must always
remember the art you want to make and be content in making yourself proud, by
your own works, not how well or not they do against someone else. The sheer
amount of work is overwhelming but the opportunities and possibilities that
arise from meeting people in person, making those contacts and opening yourself
up to judgment is a fantastic way to progress. It is something I have told
myself I have to start doing soon and I hope that 2016 is the year I get
involved in physical reading, writing and publishing groups more. I need to
network and meet people, learn what they are doing and push myself to expand
and grow. It is scary when you are at the beginning, at the bottom of the pile,
but essential.

To
learn more about the writing and publishing membership organization that
chaired the event please see: http://www.bytethebook.com and http://byte-consultancy.com

R.G Rankine

www.rgrankine.com

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